Former Massachusetts Democrat State Senator Charged For Bribery And Kickback Schemes

A former state senator in Massachusetts is in deep trouble. It has been discovered that Brian A. Joyce engaged in bribery and kickback schemes. Sometimes things like this happen in Massachusetts because there are so many Democrats, elected officials start to feel invincible, like they can get away with anything.

A former state senator from Massachusetts was charged last week with collecting about $1 million in bribes and kickbacks that he allegedly laundered through his company.

Brian A. Joyce, 55, a Democrat who served from 1998 until January of this year, also accepted hundreds of pounds of free coffee from a Dunkin’ Donuts store owner in exchange for his influence, the Boston Globe reported.

Joyce was escorted from his home in handcuffs Friday, the paper reported. He faces federal charges including corruption, embezzlement, mail fraud and money laundering.

“Brian Joyce represented over 100,000 Massachusetts citizens in the state Legislature,’’ acting U.S. Attorney William Weinreb said at a news conference announcing the indictment. “He had a duty to serve them honestly. And he violated that duty by accepting bribes and kickbacks in exchange for his official action.”

Republican Gov. Charlie Baker called the allegations against Joyce disturbing.

‘‘People in public life need to respect the offices they hold and that means not using them for personal gain, and if the feds believe there’s enough there to justify an indictment then the investigation needs to be thorough and move forward accordingly,’’ Baker said.